


I Just Want to See Her Smile

by EmbraceTheEccentric



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Healthy Relationships, Hinata Hajime & Kamukura Izuru Share a Body Simultaneously, How Do I Tag, Jabberwock Island (Dangan Ronpa), Other, Post-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Waking Up, i just like the idea of them all being friends, inconsistent pov honestly, is that too much to ask for, references to despair crimes, should make sense tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23743450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmbraceTheEccentric/pseuds/EmbraceTheEccentric
Summary: One by one the former remnants of despair awoke from their program induced sleep and began their journey of recovery. For some, the reunions were long awaited and profoundly rejoiced. For others, like Gundham and Kazuichi, there was a bit to discuss before the celebrations could even have the chance to begin.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Soda Kazuichi & Tanaka Gundham, Sonia Nevermind & Soda Kazuichi, Sonia Nevermind & Soda Kazuichi & Tanaka Gundham, Sonia Nevermind/Tanaka Gundham
Comments: 6
Kudos: 127





	I Just Want to See Her Smile

**Author's Note:**

> I LIKE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS AND FRIENDSHIPS, SO SUE ME
> 
> Main focus is Sondam but honestly could be the beginnings of Sonsoudam if you squint (and also wanted it to be)

The five survivors of the Killing School Trip were the first to emerge from the Neo World Program following its forced shutdown. They awoke in pods in a room they would quickly figure out had been constructed on the real world’s actual Jabberwock Island. They had the luxury of waking up together, something they were incredibly grateful for considering the process of waking up from the program was not a pleasant one.

First their senses gradually returned to them, but before they even had a chance to adjust to their environment their minds were hit with an onslaught of memories. It was a mixture of their time in the program and their time as remnants of despair. Thankfully none of the brainwashing clung to those memories but it didn’t make them any less traumatizing or easier to deal with.

Sonia and Kazuichi woke up crying, mourning the many lives they took while under the influence of despair. Akane was too weak from starvation to muster much of a reaction at all. Fuyuhiko had to force back the desire to reach up and tear out the foreign eye that had been shoddily transplanted into his empty socket. And Hajime…well Hajime was watching the rest of them with one green eye and one red eye and the expression of a man who was bored of it all.

That expression changed in an instant, switching to concern as the identities of a reserve course student and the Ultimate Hope merged to become one. He scrambled to extricate himself from his pod, rushing to the others to help them do the same. As expected, they were the only ones to wake up, their fellow classmates still lying comatose in the pods around them.

Hajime knew Izuru knew how to wake them up. He didn’t say as much to the others but they thankfully asked no questions when he began combing through the program’s coding for days on end. They established base in the island’s cottages, took stock of their resources, and resolved to wait by the pods in shifts to ensure no one would have to go through the horror of waking up alone.

The remaining students awoke one by one and after the first few it seemed there was a pattern. It would be happening in the order of their deaths in the game, something Hajime seemed particularly irked about. The others decided not to comment when they noticed that Hajime’s red eye seemed to twitch whenever he glanced at Nagito’s pod.

Damage control had to be done as killers emerged alongside their victims. For some, like the Imposter and Teruteru, it was an easy path to forgiveness as the death was a misguided attempt to protect. For others, like Mikan and Hiyoko, it was a little more difficult to reach a place of understanding.

In the early days everyone wanted to hang around the pods, waiting for the day that the others would finally join them. It was especially true in Fuyuhiko’s case. A blade could have been aimed at his throat and the boy would still have refused to move away from his place beside Peko’s pod. Eventually, as more and more awoke, it was accepted that shifts would be important for making sure everyone got adequate amounts of sleep and actually ate proper meals.

This was how Kazuichi found himself seated amongst the pods one night, most of them open and empty by that point save for two. He never minded taking shifts as it gave him ample time to tinker with the machinery they found around the island. Solo shifts weren’t that common but his partner had been Sonia and he had convinced her to get some proper sleep in her cottage after catching her dozing off in her seat more than once.

Kazuichi was used to the silence of the pod room, the only sounds being the soft electric hum of the equipment and the occasional clink as his tools connected with metal. He was nearly in a trance from the stillness which is why it was all the more startling to hear the tell-tale crack and hiss of a pod’s door opening.

He dropped his tools and spun around in his spot at the center of the room, searching for the source of the sound. His gaze landed on Gundham’s pod, an anticipated development considering Nekomaru had awoken days prior. Kazuichi kept his distance and watched as a bandage wrapped arm emerged from the pod and gripped the side of it, pulling up the rest of the body it connected to. Gundham sat up fully and Kazuichi finally approached when he noticed how wide the breeder’s eyes were and how his chest was heaving with signs of hyperventilation.

“Woah there, calm down,” Kazuichi ordered, reaching out to grab the other boy’s shoulders and hold them tight. The gesture had been a comfort to others who had woken up previously, like a form of grounding as everything hit them at once. “Gundham, you with me?”

Gundham blinked before squeezing his eyes shut altogether, likely reeling from the assault of sensations and memories. Eventually his breathing began to even out and his heterochromatic eyes opened again, focusing on the mechanic before him.

“Kazuichi?” Gundham ground out, voice cracking slightly from lack of use. Kazuichi grinned and clapped his hands on Gundham’s shoulders.

“There you are, you son of a bitch,” Kazuichi said, relieved that there was only recognition in his classmate’s eyes instead of any sort of swirling haze of despair. “What do you remember right now?”

“Too much…two separate lives intertwining in my mind to form a hellish chorus of memories.” Gundham reached up and pressed his hands against his head as if to keep the thoughts from erupting from the confines of his mind. Kazuichi took a step back to give him space and huffed out a laugh.

“Well, at least you’re talking how you normally do.”

“The program,” Gundham said, eyes now scanning the room and taking note of the other pods. “Is everyone…”

“Almost everyone’s awake by now,” Kazuichi answered, waving a hand out to gesture towards the empty room. “There’s honestly a lot to catch you up on but I don’t want to throw everything at you when you just woke up.”

“Are you calling me weak, you fiend?” Gundham questioned, glaring at Kazuichi for daring to assume such a thing. Kazuichi sighed and dragged a hand across his face.

“Don’t start, dude. It’s just…” Kazuichi lifted his wrist to squint at the watch he had built out of spare parts he had found around the island. “Fuck… _fuck_ , it’s…” His wrist dropped to his side and he let out another sigh. “Way too fucking early in the morning.” Kazuichi wandered back towards the center of the room where a table with a set of radios sat. He picked one of them up and hit the call button. “Hajime, you up?”

Gundham watched with bleary eyes and a foggy mind as Kazuichi waited anxiously for a response to come through the radio, occasionally clicking the talk button on the side to create a beep in lieu of more talking. His leg was bouncing impatiently and his pink eyes, wide but encased in dark circles indicative of not enough sleep, flitted about the room only occasionally landing on Gundham before they darted another direction. Gundham began to open his mouth before a static filled voice finally filtered through the radio.

“ _Kazuichi?_ ”

The mechanic let out a sigh of relief at finally hearing a response.

“Hey, sorry to wake you,” Kazuichi quickly apologized once he heard the clear signs of exhaustion in his friend’s voice.

“ _It’s alright, what’s going on?_ ”

“Gundham woke up,” Kazuichi answered, eyes flicking back over to the breeder who still sat in his pod. Gundham didn’t quite trust his legs to hold him yet if he attempted to get out.

_“…how is he?”_

“Seems fine so far. Same as the others,” Kazuichi promised. “It’s the middle of the night. I didn’t want to wake anyone but I want to get him settled in a cottage and I’m the only one on shift. I know you’re down here a lot-”

 _“No, I’m glad you called me.”_ Hajime quickly assured him. _“If Gundham woke up, that means…”_

“Nagito should be next…yeah.” Kazuichi didn’t sound the most pleased at the prospect.

Gundham looked around until his eyes finally landed on the only unopen pod left in the room. So, someone had eventually killed the lucky one…honestly not a surprising development in Gundham’s opinion.

_“I’ll be down in a little while. Can you wait for me to shower and change clothes?”_

“Yeah, no problem dude. See you in a bit.” Kazuichi dropped the radio back off in its holder and bent down to pick a spanner up off the ground. “How’s your eye?” He asked as he began to methodically spin the tool in his hand. At Gundham’s look of confusion the pink-haired man gestured towards his own face. “When I woke up my eyes were super dry from my contacts.”

Gundham frowned and reach a hand up towards his right eye. Now that his attention had been directed towards it, he realized the eye was in fact quite dry and irritated. It was a similar feeling to how it would be if he accidentally fell asleep without taking out his red contact lens. He didn’t enjoy the fact that Kazuichi knew it was a contact lens but found it interesting to learn that Kazuichi’s own eye color was a deception as well. He chose to ignore the question and instead took stock of the rest of his appearance and belongings.

“My Dark Devas…” Gundham suddenly murmured as he realized he couldn’t feel their movements within the confines of his scarf or jacket.

“Sonia has them. They woke up with the first batch of us, I guess they counted as game survivors. They had their own little pod and everything.” Kazuichi flipped the spanner in the air before pointing it at a scaled-down version of Gundham’s pod situated nearby. The pod was indeed empty. “Apparently, Makoto was just going to take care of them while we were in the program but then they kept biting people and running away and fucking with Future Foundation equipment so I guess they got brainwashed with despair too.” Kazuichi moved the spanner to point it at Gundham, his expression unimpressed. “Your hamsters are weird, dude.”

“They’re warriors of destruction,” Gundham tiredly argued.

“Yeah, well…they’re with Sonia.” Kazuichi flipped the spanner again before freezing, his eyes widening as he let out a distressed groan. “ _Shit_. Sonia’s gonna kill me. She’s been waiting by your pod so she could be here when you woke up.” He crossed his arms and looked towards the exit of the pod room. “I _just_ convinced her to actually get some proper sleep in her cottage and the first night she’s gone you decided to wake up.”

“I had no control over the time of my awakening.”

“I know, I just…” Kazuichi shook his head and gave a nervous chuckle. “I feel like I should lie and say you didn’t wake up until the morning so it’s not as bad. Or I guess I can bring you to her now, need to get you in a cottage anyway.”

“As you said, it is quite the unholy hour,” Gundham reminded him. He began to stretch out his legs and test out how well they were working. “I wouldn’t want to disturb her rest, especially if she’s been forgoing proper sleep awaiting my return.” Gundham scoffed and shook his head. “Foolish behavior…”

“The fuck do you mean _foolish_?” Kazuichi snapped, immediately defensive.

“What compelled her to waste time and energy by my insentient side?” Gundham questioned, eyeing the IV line stuck in his wrist with distaste. He’d been in hospitals before, he knew better than to try and pull the thing out.

“Are you still missing some memories or did the program scramble your brain?” Kazuichi mocked, disbelief clear in his tone. “Seriously. You’re asking _why_ Sonia cares that much about you?” Gundham didn’t answer so Kazuichi sighed and dropped the spanner off with the rest of his tools, choosing instead to grab a nearby sketchpad. He flipped it open to a particular page and shoved it in front of Gundham’s face. “Do you know what this is?”

Gundham flinched and pushed the sketchpad away slightly so he could properly focus on the page. He squinted at it, still adjusting to the slight blur that his dry contact was giving him. It seemed to be a rough drawing of a person that resembled himself, though the anatomy had been replaced with gears and metal pieces and labeled with Kazuichi’s chicken-scratch handwriting.

“It looks to be a drawing of my visage,” Gundham observed and glanced at Kazuichi, hoping the confusion was evident enough in his tone and expression. “Yet there’s the addition of unnatural machinery.”

“We weren’t sure if the rest of you guys, the ones who died in the program, would ever wake up,” Kazuichi said as he pulled the sketchpad back towards him. “In the time between us waking up until the first person finally awoke, Sonia didn’t know if she’d ever get you back.” His voice suddenly became much quieter. “She wasn’t…okay.”

“The she-cat has great power lying dormant inside her,” Gundham informed him, though he frowned as he considered Kazuichi’s words. “But even the strongest of demons have a dark place in their minds.”

“After you killed Nekomaru in the program I made a toy replica of his robot form to cheer up Akane,” Kazuichi told him, flipping to another page in the sketchbook and turning it so Gundham could see the design of a small Mechamaru doll. “I figured while we waited to see if any of you would wake up, I’d work on something similar for Sonia. I started designing something a bit different after I realized a toy version of you probably wouldn’t do.”

“You were constructing an automaton of me?” Gundham pieced together. The idea of it sounded absurd and bordered on the sort of unnatural that Gundham wasn’t a fan of. He respected the laws of nature and this didn’t seem to abide by them.

“…sure, let’s call it that,” Kazuichi replied, shutting the sketchpad and tossing it on a nearby table. “I was going to dig into the program coding once Hajime was done with it and see if I could find your avatar…a copy of you, like the A.I. they made of Chiaki…put it in the robot.” He trailed off, sounding as if he never had much faith in his plan to begin with. “I dunno.”

“That seems…like an insurmountable amount of work,” Gundham noted, the unspoken question of _‘why?’_ hanging in the air between them.

“Sonia kept on living because of you, because of what you said in the end,” Kazuichi told him with a half-smile on his face. “She took care of your hamsters in the program…I even saw her wearing your scarf sometimes. When we got out…” He shrugged. “She needed you back.”

“She’s strong. Stronger than most give her credit for,” Gundham argued. It pained his heart to hear that Sonia had been distressed in his absence but he knew she could have overcome it. “She had the rest of you, the other survivors, to lean on if need be.”

“You’re in a different category from the rest of us, you know that.”

“Even so, given time she could have moved on from me.” He looked at Kazuichi, gaze steady in an attempt to make the implications clear. “Moved on to someone new.”

“It wouldn’t be me she moved on to,” Kazuichi immediately replied, much to Gundham’s surprise. “I shouldn’t be with her anyway. I’ve stopped trying to make that happen.”

“What brought this revelation on?” Gundham questioned, impressed but still wary at such a mature declaration coming from the mechanic. “You were always quite determined to win her affections, regardless of the numerous rejections.”

Kazuichi was silent for a moment, staring over at his pile of tools as he thought, and Gundham took the opportunity to study his former classmate. He wasn’t sure what had transpired between the time of his simulated execution and the moment of his awakening but Kazuichi seemed different. He appeared tired, sure, that was to be expected if he was staying awake for overnight shifts, but there was something else. His jittery nature seemed much more subdued like he had managed to come to terms with all the miniscule things in life that had frightened him before. He seemed older.

“You know how fucked up my mindset was before?” Kazuichi finally asked, snapping Gundham out of his observations. The mechanic turned to look back at the breeder, his gaze heavy-lidded and his smile sardonic. “One of my first thoughts after you were executed was ‘ _hey, maybe now I have a chance with Sonia’_.” Gundham merely raised a single eyebrow in response, though the silent reply still spoke volumes. Kazuichi let out a bitter chuckle and looked away again. “Yeah.”

“Then why-”

“If I _really_ cared about her then I should want to see her happy. That should be all I want,” Kazuichi stated, pure confidence in his words. It was obvious he had thought over this reasoning many times before to seem so sure in his beliefs. “She’s happy with you, not with me.”

“I am certain she is still your ally,” Gundham assured, a frown tugging at his lips.

“Nah, I know we’re friends,” Kazuichi said, his smile turning more genuine. “She’s too nice to drop even someone like me. But I realized I need to stop trying to make that into something more.” He looked back at Gundham and grinned, pointed teeth glinting in the dim light of the room. “I either need to be just a friend or nothing at all, and I’m sure as hell not picking nothing.”

Gundham let out a chuckle as he found himself mirroring Kazuichi’s grin. A stressful tension he hadn’t realized he’d been feeling suddenly lifted from his shoulders. He had always noticed how upset it made Sonia that she was forced to keep a classmate at a distance for fear that he’d one day go too far. To hear that she’d no longer need to worry about such a thing, at least in the case of Kazuichi, brought him a surprising level of comfort. Gundham opened his mouth to speak before he was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of another.

“Hey, sorry I took so long,” Hajime apologized as he entered the room before focusing on Gundham. The breeder managed to keep himself from reacting to the sight of two different colored eyes staring back at him. “Gundham, it’s good to see you awake.”

“Though I was content with my role as a temporary visitor in this world…” Gundham replied, holding out a hand for Hajime to shake which the other man gladly took. “I must confess that it is quite nice to have returned for a while longer.”

Hajime smiled before glancing down at the IV still attached to Gundham’s arm. He excused himself for a moment, moving to another area of the room before returning with gauze and fresh bandages. With the practiced skill only usually seen in healthcare professionals, Hajime removed the needle and wrapped up the injection site with care.

“I’ll get him to a cottage,” Kazuichi declared, holding out an arm to help Gundham finally stand up out of his pod on shaky legs. “You’ll be at breakfast, right? I think Akane and Mikan have morning shift.”

“I…think I’ll stay here,” Hajime answered. Gundham and Kazuichi watched his red eye twitch as he looked over the only unopened pod in the room. “He’s going to be next. We want to be here when he wakes up.” Gundham’s brows furrowed with confusion, especially when he heard Kazuichi let out a sigh beside him.

“We?” Kazuichi wearily pointed out, Hajime’s shoulders tensing in response.

“ _I_ want to be here,” Hajime corrected. “You don’t need me. Imposter is good at giving the catch-up lecture for people who just woke up. They’ll explain things to Gundham.” Kazuichi sighed again but nevertheless began carting Gundham towards the exit.

“I finished the prototype for the prosthesis,” The mechanic announced over his shoulder before the two left. “I’ll run it down here tomorrow to show you.” Gundham only heard a pleased hum in response come from Hajime before the door shut behind them. Gundham sucked in a lung full of real island air, only just realizing how much he had missed the outdoors. The two began their trek across the islands, first in silence before Gundham finally spoke.

“So, Hajime-”

“Don’t ask,” Kazuichi immediately said. “I mean…you can ask, just not right now.”

“Fair enough,” Gundham conceded. They walked for a while longer before he decided to speak again. “If the order in which we are awaking coincides with our deaths, does that mean…”

“Oh yeah, Nekomaru’s awake,” Kazuichi confirmed with a chuckle. “Been dying to see you, actually. Wants to congratulate you on winning your fight with him or something.” At Gundham’s look of confusion he merely shrugged. “You and him technically kept us all from starving to death in that stupid funhouse, including Akane, so I think he’s grateful.”

The two fell into a companionable silence after that, their combined exhaustion making it so the most they could really manage was walking towards the cottages. Gundham noted that Jabberwock seemed fairly similar to how it had been in the program, albeit in slight disarray from being abandoned for some time. Of course, there was no amusement park or military base on these islands but the more practical structures still remained.

As they moved closer and closer to the cottages Gundham was able to rely less heavily on Kazuichi as the muscles in his legs remembered what it was like to walk. However, while his legs were improving his heart seemed to be developing palpitations as they neared their destination. Gundham had a difficult time piecing together the reason why until Kazuichi announced they were outside Sonia’s cottage and it felt like his heart stopped altogether.

“We can knock softly and just see if she’s up,” Kazuichi whispered, leaving the decision in Gundham’s hands. The breeder felt himself nod even as his mind warned him not to, as if the movements of his body were no longer in his control. Kazuichi gently rapped at the cottage door and the two men waited for a response. A few moments passed and…

“I guess she-”

“Hello?” The door to the cottage creaked open as a melodic voice emerged from the darkness within. Gundham felt his heart leap into his throat as the voice’s owner finally appeared before him, complete with sunshine golden hair and sleepy looking hamsters perched on her shoulders.

As Sonia’s eyes finally adjusted from the blur of just waking up and the darkness of the night she stared, eyes wide as she took in Gundham standing at her door. The two were silent, content to stare at one another while their minds attempted to process what they saw. Kazuichi glanced between them for a while before finally clearing his throat.

“Figured you’d be mad if you didn’t get to see him immediately,” The mechanic explained. Sonia finally blinked and looked towards him as if she were coming out of a trance. “Bad enough I made you go sleep right before he woke up.”

Sonia looked back at Gundham before the brightest grin suddenly cracked her sleepy expression. She flung herself towards the breeder who still stood in shock even as his loyal Devas crawled atop his shoulders and head, happy to finally be reunited with their master. A beat passed and Gundham finally raised his arms to return the hug, his grip around the young girl tightening as it properly set in that they’d finally reunited.

“Thank you, Kazuichi,” Sonia said, turning her smiling face in the direction of the mechanic. Kazuichi smiled back and reached up to playfully pinch at one of her blushing cheeks.

“There we go, that’s what I was looking for,” He teased. “Haven’t seen a proper smile from you in a while.”

“Oh, Gundham,” Sonia suddenly pulled away and began to drag the other man into her cottage. “Come look at the habitat that Kazuichi helped me construct for the Dark Devas.”

Gundham dutifully followed her inside to view a labyrinth of tunnels, hiding holes, food areas, exercise wheels, and borders to contain the bedding material. He smiled and reached up to scratch at the head of San-D who had nestled in at the base of his throat.

“A sufficient kingdom for their vessels to reside in,” Gundham approved, throat almost tight with overwhelming emotion at knowing how well they had cared for his Devas in his absence. He turned to glance at Kazuichi who stood at the entrance to the cabin, not quite entering the space. “You created this?”

“Sonia came up with the designs for everything, I just made what she told me to make,” Kazuichi explained, refusing to take all the credit. He watched Gundham smile down at Sonia and took a step out towards his own cottage. “Anyway, you _do_ have your own cottage over there, but something tells me you won’t be staying there tonight.” He made a vague gesture towards another cottage down the way and took another step towards his own. “I’m going to work on some projects. Holler if you need anything.” He paused and pointed an accusatory finger towards Sonia, the princess going wide-eyed in response. “Sonia still needs to sleep. Make sure she sleeps.”

“I’ll go lay down in bed as a sign of good will,” She conceded, raising her hands up in a pacifying gesture as she moved further into the room. Kazuichi smiled and turned to finally retire to his cottage when a hand on his arm once again stopped him from leaving.

“Kazuichi,” Gundham’s voice was soft, likely with the hope that Sonia was truly attempting to fall back asleep a few feet away. “Thank you.”

“What for, dude?” Kazuichi asked a shrug of his shoulder. “I already told you Sonia was the one who came up with those hamster things-”

“Thank you for taking care of her,” Gundham clarified. Kazuichi’s eyes widened slightly and Gundham smiled. “And for waiting by my side in her stead.”

Kazuichi blinked before returning the smile and offering his hand. Gundham looked at it with brief surprise before slowly reaching out to take the hand, grasping it in a firm handshake.

“You’re welcome, Gundham,” Kazuichi replied.

The two shared their moment of silent comradery before ending the handshake so Kazuichi could finally return to his own cottage. However, it didn’t seem the universe intended for him to ever make it back as another voice once again stopped him in his tracks.

“Kazuichi?” Kazuichi spun around with a sigh to see Sonia standing at the door, sleepily rubbing her eyes and already offering an apologetic smile.

“What happened to lying in bed as a sign of good will?” Kazuichi jokingly asked. Sonia’s grin widened and she let out a twinkling laugh.

“I apologize, it’s just…” She glanced at Gundham who looked back at her with confusion, unsure as to why she had stopped Kazuichi from leaving. “Would you like to hang out with us for a little while? I’m sure I’ll fall asleep quickly and usually people who wake up from the program aren’t all that eager to sleep immediately after.” She looked back at Kazuichi. “So perhaps you could keep Gundham company for me.”

Kazuichi looked from Sonia to Gundham, wanting to gauge the breeder’s reaction before arriving at a decision of his own. They may have resolved some of their differences but the two former classmates were never the closest of friends. This was why Kazuichi was somewhat surprised to see that Gundham looked shyly pleased by the idea of the mechanic keeping him company. Dare he say, Gundham looked hopeful for the possibility. Kazuichi paused for a moment before huffing out a laugh and shaking his head.

“Sure thing,” He answered as he follow after his friends, shutting the cottage door soundly behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, constructive criticism is always welcome!


End file.
